Amphibious warship USS John P. Murtha (LPD-26) is back in San Diego to fix an unspecified maintenance issue after departing on deployment last week, USNI News has learned.
Ship spotters saw the 25,000-ton warship entering San Diego harbor on Tuesday. Murtha left San Diego on Nov. 9 for its deployment as part of the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group.
A spokesperson for Expeditionary Strike Group 3 told USNI News the warship was back in port to “evaluate a maintenance issue.” The spokesperson did not have additional details on the mechanical issue.
Murtha, along with USS Makin Island (LHD-8) and USS Anchorage (LPD-23), left San Diego last week with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit embarked for a Pacific deployment.
The ARG/MEU includes the aviation combat element with the “Flying Leathernecks” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 122 flying F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters and the “Ugly Angels” of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 362 (Reinforced) flying MV-22B Ospreys; the logistics combat element made up of Combat Logistics Battalion 13; and the ground combat element with 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines.
In addition to preparing for the Makin Island ARG deployment, Murtha has been a key platform in testing the recovery of NASA’s Orion spacecraft along with Anchorage.
